I have a bus that's 40 feet long. When I was in training camp, I was scared to fly, so I used the bus.
Riddick Bowe
A program like the Fresh Air Fund gives people a chance to break away for a while. I've been fortunate to be able to raise my family that way.
There's a lot of racism around. I am always puzzled when people have that attitude. I went to a place where people were nice to me. It was something that stuck with me. I learned to treat people the same.
So many people were ready to write me off as being washed up at 20, I started to believe all that negative stuff myself.
Being a little kid, you don't hear much about racism. You figure everybody's the same. If racism isn't taught, you're just a black kid and a white kid together.
I'm capitalizing on a lot of mistakes that champions made before me. I hear a lot of guys say if they were champion again they would do things differently and respect people more. I plan to do that while I'm still champion.
I want to be more than the heavyweight champion. I want to do great things.
People have said I have brain damage, but I've passed all of my physicals, all of my medicals. They've checked my head so many times it's crazy.
I mean at my best, who could give me a good fight? I don't see nobody doing that.
In the ghetto we didn't even know there was such a thing as a private jet.
I don't speak with my mother. Whenever I wanted to talk about my problems, she would just ask me when I was going to send her more money.
People said I had no heart, I was lackadaisical, the whole nine yards. But success is the best revenge, and I'm proving all of them wrong, even Evander Holyfield.
I have a great responsibility, not only to my fans, but to kids who are going to look up to me.
My toughest opponent is me. My mind has a tendency to wander during bouts. I tend to focus on things other than the bout. I have to work at staying motivated, getting my head right.
The thing is this sport doesn't have a heavyweight who is prettier than I am and can get down.
I hate hearing my voice on the radio.
I always tried to be different from everyone else. Then I found out about boxing. That was the way I could be different from everyone else. I always went against the crowd.
One fight, I went away to train and my little girl was in Pampers. I came home and she was potty-trained. She was crawling when I left and walking when I came home. These are things I don't want to miss anymore.
I know I can win the heavyweight championship.
I love driving. It just makes me relaxed. All my worries go away.
You need to have that killer instinct. It can't be taught. Where does it come from? A couple slaps. A couple things you had denied to you.
I think people always misjudge me.
Well I love to fight.
First and foremost, I love Riddick Bowe more than anybody else could love him. If I wasn't 100 percent sure that I was 100 percent sound, I wouldn't jeopardize my life by getting back into the ring.
With Evander Holyfield, I anticipate this being a hard fight. But each time out, you don't want it to be a hard fight. Not to mention, you burn yourself out that way.
Oh man, I would love to fight Evander Holyfield. I don't think any of the other great heavyweights fought four times - that's history in itself.
Man, I'm gonna tell you something about Evander Holyfield, when he fights a guy like me and I fight I guy like him, we always bring the best out of each other so by no means should anyone out there ever think that a fight like that is a cake walk because it's not.
I had to fight to put my socks on. That's why I'm a great fighter. My brothers and sisters didn't realize they were creating a monster. And then that monster made it to the Hall of Fame.
I like a truck because it's big like I am, and I think I'll have a lot of fun working with it.
I love talking to the people. You've seen how many tweets I do. I love the people.
My main goal is Vitali Klitschko. I figure eight rounds, I nail him with a right hand, a left-right combination and it's a wrap.
Chris Byrd is a good fighter, but I put him to sleep in five, seven rounds.
The heavyweight champion of the world shouldn't just be heavyweight champion of the world. He should use his position to help other people, such as myself.
I miss boxing. I miss everybody and everything. I miss the attention.
If somebody tells you that after being champion you're not going to miss the attention, he's lying to you.
I had a goal. I was on a mission. And somewhere along the line I lost sight of what I was supposed to be doing. I got out of my training program.
I love to eat, and I have no problem telling anybody that.
When you get hit in the head, you don't recover from that.
Don't worry about me. Worry about the next man. If you see me in a fight, don't help me. Pour honey on me and then help the bear. Don't worry about me. I'm Dorothy Bowe's baby boy. I'm going to be all right.
I'm a big cat. I'm 6-5. I'm not worried about weight. Nobody's coming to see a weight fight. They're coming to see the Big Dog fight.
What would I do without boxing? That's the question, isn't it?
Boxing's all I know. At 40, what else am I going to do?
No matter what, God is on my side. I'm not perfect, but I'm not the worst, either.
Any promoter who wants to put me on their card, I'm willing to fight.
I learned a long time ago that no one wants to hear excuses.
For me, hard work and determination got me in the Hall of Fame.
